Conditions
by fathearts
Summary: After the defeat of the Telmarines, the Pevensie siblings are given the chance to stay in Narnia. However, to do this they must complete Aslan's three conditions.
1. Words Of The Lion

Peter and Susan stood in the courtyard, no words being exchanged between them. They both knew full well what was coming to them. They had heard the tales, the myths and rumours, that there was an age of change. The woodlands folk whispered between them that they had read the signs in the stars, one day the Pevensie siblings would be too old to return to Narnia. The professor, after their first visit to Narnia, had warned them of this, that one day they would not be able to return again. None of the four had taken too much interest at the time, doubting whether they would go back. However, a feeling in Susan's stomach told her she would not return.

The soft pad of Aslan's large paws on the solid stone grew closer and closer behind them, and slowly they turned to meet the might lions stare. He said, lookingdirectly at them. Neither of them made a sound.

Silently, both siblings moved to either side of the grand lion, his rough but thick mane tickling their sides. "I do believe you are expecting to leave Narnia," Aslan simply said, almost mockingly. He looked up at Peter, indicating him to walk. Only a fool would ignore a lion, no matter how calm and wise they were.

"We both know that our time has come in Narnia, and were sure it is the best for us..." he muttered nervously, before being abruptly stopped by Aslan.

"Stop," he said abruptly, only looking forwards instead of at either Peter or Susan. He looked over across the courtyard to see Caspian jogging towards them. "However," he carried on, whispering, "Things must change, for now at least. I can not tell you more now, but all shall be revealed very soon,". Aslan then stopped, standing in silence. He cocked his head towards the pathway leading to the area where the public assembly would take place. Caspian stood underneath an archway, averting his eyes from them.

"What?" Susan said, in confusion and disbelief as Aslan walked away. She stared at him as he walked away.

"We'll have it wait and see," Peter said. He was trying to put on a strong face, but he to felt completely confused inside. He put a hand on his sister's back and began to lead her to where Caspian stood. As they passed him, Caspian joined them.

"What was all that about?" asked Caspian, looking at Peter.

"We should find out now," Peter said, as they moved towards the croud that had gathered around the stage. Caspian looked at them both, raising an eyebrow, then shrugged and started to move through the crowd, who parted to make room for Caspian, Peter and Susan to walk through towards the stage.

Susan couldn't concentrate as Caspian spoke, instead staring into the distance, past the tree and over the cliff. She looked down, the height almost making her feel lightheaded. Millions of quaint little cottages, huts and slightly larger and grander homes were spread across the land until they reached the coast, where they simply looked the size of the head of a pin.

Susan briefly glanced at Peter and could tell he wasn't truly listening either. Peter watched Caspian and make the right gestures and facial expressions at the right times, but he wasn't really taking anything in. He wanted to but he he could stop pondering about what was to come.

With a massive groan, the tree at the center of the stage started to shudder. Slowly, it creaked and twisted around until a portal had formed in the middle. All eyes turned towards it, some wide with fear and some wide with fascination. Most, however, were wide with both. As the trunk fully opened up, a selection of gasps were heard from the crowd of Telmarines and Narnians alike. People muttered words of disbelief.

Aslan took over from Caspian. "This portal," he said, turning towards the tree, "shall transport you back to your own world. The one your ancestors left many years ago from now,"

A Telmarine soldier stepped forwards. He had the classic tanned skin and inky black hair, falling into his eyes. A large raw burn stood out underneath his eye and his arm was wrapped in a bloody bandage. "And what will happen to us then? It has been many thousands of years since we left," he said indignantly.

Aslan looked at him. He didn't look at him with anger, nor with disgust, but only with a fond fatherly expression. "You shall be given to opportunity to start a whole new life-".

Before he could continue, Queen Prunaprismia stepped forwards, holding her infant son Inigo. Young Inigo. He would never know of his father. Never know who his father had been, what his father had done. In some ways, Caspian hoped this would be a good thing. No child should know of the actions the Miraz had commited. Though, Caspian wouldn't want a child to grow up without a father as he had done. That child was now as Caspian had been from such a young age. The child of a murdered father. "I shall go," she said softly.

Behind her, Glozelle and her father Lord Scythly stepped forwards. "As shall we."

The group climbed the steps towards the stage and passed the group, stopping directly in front of Aslan. As Queen Prunaprismia passed Caspian, she gently skimmed her hand over his arm and looked up at her nephew with a gentle thankful look. Caspian looked directly at her, both sets of deep brown eyes meeting.

While Miraz had always remained a harsh and indifferent man, his wife had hidden a caring side towards Caspian. She would never show this to her husband of course, but Caspian was aware that she felt sympathetic in some ways to him. She had never wanted this to happen when she married Miraz.

Aslan looked up at them brightly. "Since you are the first to accept my offer, this new world will serve you well," he said, turning his head towards the tree. The group walked towards the tree, through the hole and disappeared without a trace.

All went silent for only a few moments. The Telmarines looked at each-other apprehensively. "Murder!" a soldier cried. He bore an ugly infected battle wound across his face which was sure to leave an equally ugly scar, ruining his once handsome exotic features.

Staying perfectly calm, Aslan didn't fight back. That was not Aslan. He did not fight by setting fear into anyone, but by his words. "My intentions are not to kill, we have seen enough of that in these recent times. Enough blood has been shed, and no sorrow should be experienced. It is up to you to decide how genuine my offer is , and up to the rest of the people to decide the same for themselves,".

The man stopped for a second, and then stepped back. He once again disappeared into the crowd. His face just another one of millions. He wasn't one of the ones that left, but many did.

As the last groups of Telmarines passed through the arch in the tree trunk, Caspian came over to stand by the siblings as his job was over. Edmund nudged Peter with his elbow. "What's going on?" he practically mouthed, so quiet that Susan and Lucy wouldn't hear. Edmund wasn't oblivious, he knew there had been talk of Peter and Susan becoming to old for Narnia.

"Wait. Aslan knows what he is doing,"

And so he did. "There is a reason I've kept the four Kings and Queens of Old here," Aslan said, "Many of you know, our towns have been cursed by a incredibly destructive fire, nothing has survived this fire so far and you can barely imagine what destruction will be left behind if we let this continue. That is why, we require the four Kings and Queens of old, with King Caspian X at their side, to go on this quest,". He paused and looked at the five royals.

All five of them stared at him, determined. None of them wanted the kingdom to go down in the deadly flames. It was obvious just looking at them.

"There is a solution to this," he said. "Far away, miles and miles away, is the Magedread tree. This tree cradles a single crystal in it's roots. Once you have this crystal, it will give us in Narnia the power to stop this deadly curse,"

There was silence in the crowd. No one dared look anywhere but directly at the might lion.

Aslan continued, "I'm sure some of you will remember Tyne, the son of a noble man long gone. He went on this same quest many years ago, and you will also know that he was never seen again. This is why only the bravest may go, for there is the threat of never returning."

Barely a thousandth of a second after he had finished explaining the quest to those who chose to remain in Narnia, Peter stepped forwards.

"We shall do it," he said, without even the slightest hesitation.

"Wait, son of Adam, for you have not yet heard my three conditions," He looked at Peter, who nodded, and continued.

"The first may be obvious, but is not by any means straight forwards. The second will be harder. You must find out what happened to Tyne, to achieve closure for his descendant and avenge him. For you, the third may be the most difficult one of all. On acceptance of my first two conditions, you must agree to never return to your own world for it will be dangerous for you in ways you cannot understand,"

Peter turned around to look at his three younger siblings. In turn, each of them nodded their approval at him. The land they once ruled over needed protecting. The eldest sibling turned slowly back around to Aslan and gulped. Trying not to show any emotion, showing the rest of the kingdom that he was sure of himself, he stared straight at Aslan. "We will,"

"Thank you, son of Adam," Aslan said sincerely to Peter before turning back to the crowd and dismissing them. Once the kingdom started filing out of the courtyard, Aslan turned to the group one final time. "I'm sure I will be seeing you all soon, but in the mean time good luck. May I have a word, young one?" He addressed his question to Lucy, using his expression only reserved for her. She obliged with a small smile, burying one hand in his mane as he led her away into the nearby woods.

"We should make a plan," Edmund said, folding his arms over his chest and looking at the others. Peter nodded and started to walk away towards the castle entrance. Edmund followed.

"Are you coming?" Peter turned to Susan and Caspian.

Caspian opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything Susan did. "No," she said "I think I will turn in for the night," she said with a small smile as she turned away.

"As shall I," Caspian said "It has been a long day,".

The two brothers nodded, and continued to walk to the more public end of the castle, where they knew they would find many of the knights they would require for their quest. Meanwhile, Susan and Caspian both retreated to the other end, specially reserved for the castle's residents.

"I'm sorry," Caspian said to Susan, as he trailed several yards behind her.

Susan stopped immediately. "What for?" she said, turning around with a confused look on her face.

Caspian quickened his pace to catch up with Susan, and they both slowly walked on. He sighed deeply. "I- I don't know." he looked down at the ground. "It's just, your family. You may never see them again.".

Susan stopped in her steps. "Caspian," she said. "Do not pity me." "I have all that I need here. My kingdom needs me. If fate says I will not see my parents at this point in time, then this is what is right, ". She stood on her toes and put a hand on his shoulder. "Anyway, all that I need is right here in Narnia,". Lightly, she kissed him on the lips before walking away, all too suddenly.


	2. Midnight Wanderings

**_Disclaimer- I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia, nor do I own any of the characters or recognizable features. _**

"Su?". A small, tentative whisper came though the darkness. Lucy stepped into the room, the door closing with a creak behind her. She held her candle up to her face as it cast a light golden glow over her features. "Susan?" she repeated.

Lucy put her candle on the bedside table and knelt on the bed next to her sister, shaking her shoulder.

Susan began to stir, and rolled onto her back. She looked up to see her younger sister's concerned face. Susan blinked and sat up, leaning on her elbow. "What's wrong, Lu?".

Lucy sat next to Susan and crossed her legs. "Susan," she said, looking down at her hands. "Aslan told me I am to stay here, he said-" she stopped suddenly. Her eyes glazed over with water.

"Lucy, what did he say?".

A lump formed in Lucy's throat. "He told me I am too young to go," she cried out, "he doesn't think I can cope!"

Susan sat up further, pulling a pillow behind her back onto the headboard. "Lucy," Susan looked at her sister with a fond smile. "Lucy, he knows what he is doing. Aslan loves you Lucy. He doesn't want you get hurt, he doesn't want you to be in danger,".

Susan opened her arms to Lucy, who proceeded to crawl into them and rest her hand on Susan's shoulder. "Well maybe I'll miss you all," Lucy mumbled into her sister's skin.

"And you know we'll miss you too, but we'll be back before you know it,". Susan looked down at her sister again. "Anyway," she said playfully "We need someone to look after the rest of the kingdom while we are on our quest, with Reepicheep of course,".

"I suppose," Lucy said, a smile forming on her lips. "I'll let you to sleep, you'll be needing it," she said, giving a Susan a bone crushing hug before leaving the room. She took her candle again, and stood in the doorway. "Love you Su,"

"Love you too, Lu,".

And with that Lucy left Susan alone in her room. It was true. Susan did need her sleep. Tomorrow, the group would set off on their quest. She knew that she didn't know when she would next find the time to sleep. She knew that she should sleep well tonight. But she couldn't. Susan wished that they had been given time to plan their quest properly, but they hadn't. Edmund had come bursting into her room as she prepared for sleep, announcing that they would start their quest at dawn.

After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning, but was only really half an hour, Susan rose from her bed and swung her legs over the side. She shivered as her bare feet hit the cold stone of the floor, so pulled a pair of stiff but warm boots over her feet and a fur trimmed cloak over her shoulders. She fumbled through the dark as she found a candle in a holder on the dresser, and carried it out of the room, making sure to leave her bedroom door ajar as she left.

She walked speedily out to the hallway, hugging her cloak around her with one hand and holding her candle with the other. Susan hurried towards the torch with fire crackling high on the wall and stood on the tips of her toes to touch the wick of the candle to the dancing flames. The fire spread onto the candle and made the warmth drift down towards her hands.

Guided by the soft glow of the candle light, Susan wandered into the drawing room, intending to sit and read until tiredness took her over. However, it seemed someone else had the same idea. As she opened the door, careful not to make too much noise and wake those who slept near by, the loud noise of a wooden box falling to the floor echoed across the room.

Caspian, who was sitting on a bench, jumped to hit feet and turned towards the door, being in instant relief when he saw it was Susan who had given him such a shock. Susan smiled at him as she walked over to join him on the bench, but he avoided eye contact as he hastily picked up his dropped box and placed it on the bench next to him, guarding the box with a hand on top of it.

"Will sleep not come to you, either?" Caspian asked.

"Quite unfortunately not," she said, looking sympathetically at Caspian. "What is that" Susan said, quickly changing the subject as she twisted around him to look at the box protected underneath his left hand.

"Ah, your Majesty, that is nothing for you to worry yourself about," he said, pulling it closer to his body.

Susan raised once corner of her lips, and gave him a skeptical look. Caspian mimicked her, but couldn't help a tiny laugh slipping out. Susan shook her head, in exasperation but also in humour of the new King.

"You have no idea, how I worry about such little things," Susan said, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Like what?" Caspian asked, hoping he wasn't prying.

"I worry for my family the most,". She looked up at Caspian. "Even my older brother, but especially Lucy,". She glanced over at Caspian, but he didn't say a word. He waited for her to continue. "Lucy is staying here, at the castle." She paused yet again, putting a hand in her hair and another grasping the buckle on her cloak and tracing the pattern with her index finger. "It's not that I don't trust her, but I don't think she quite trusts herself with the castle,".

Caspian reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Susan's ear, and then lowered him hand to rest on her forearm. "I promise you, she will be fine. I'm sure she will even start to enjoy being in charge for once," he teased.

When Caspian placed his hand on her arm, she did not move or fight it. She subconsciously moved closer to him, until she could feel his hot breath travelling down the collar of her cloak.

Caspian's breath hitched as he felt her move closer to him.

"I feel as if I owe you something,".

Susan turned to him, confusion across her face.

However, before she could even utter a word, Caspian had placed a hand on the back of her head and pulled her further towards him, pressing his lips to hers. For a couple of seconds, there was tension and awkwardness between them, but for a brief moment before Caspian pulled away they started to relax against one another. Caspian leaned back only a centimeter for a moment, but soon drifted backwards towards Susan.

But before their lips could touch once more, the door slammed open. Caspian jumped to hit feet at an incredible speed, trying to hide the guilty look on his face from Susan's eldest brother. Peter strolled into the room, a quill in his hand, but he stopped in his tracks as he saw Caspian standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, and Susan sitting, pretending to examine a broken fingernail.

There was no hiding from Peter, he was not oblivious and nor was he ignorant. But much to Caspian's relief, Peter did not blow up, though from the expression on his face it was quite obvious that he knew what had just occurred. A slight blush crept over his cheeks.

Susan stood, wrapped her cloak around her and hastily left. "We really must get our sleep," she looked at the two men. "It shall be an early start tomorrow,". She hurried down the corridor towards her chambers.

"We all should be," Peter agreed. "I must just make one last adjustment to our plans before I retire," he said as he made his way over to a chest, pulled out a scroll of fresh white paper and unrolled it before beginning to write on it in a long sloping scrawl.

"I believe I shall also retire," Caspian said as he grabbed his box, left the room and closed the wall behind him. He hurried along the corridors in the dark, instantly regretting not bringing a source of light with him as he stubbed his toe against a pedestal.

Once in his chambers, he opened the trunk at the foot of his bed and buried the box right at the bottom, making sure he completely hid it form view in the piles of fabric before clambering into bed. It seemed that as soon as his head hit the pillow, he drifted into the darkness of sleep. However, it only seemed like seconds until he was woken again by a rough shaking of his shoulders.

"Caspian!" Lucy said, as she wandered over to the window and pulled back the heavy drapes. It wasn't fully light outside yet, but the birds were starting to sing and the sun could just be seen peeping above the mountains in the distance. Still, Caspian resisted waking up. He pulled his bed sheets over his head, and mumbled something unintelligible from underneath the sheets. With surprising strength, Lucy pulled them back of him again to the bottom of the bed. She pulled the wardrobe doors open, and out she pulled his hard wearing clothes and a pair of well work leather riding boots. She threw them across the room at him, the boots narrowly missing his head. "Come on," she said, giving him one last shake of the arm, and walked out. "Everyone else is ready," She called from outside of the door. "Including your horse!".

Reluctantly, Caspian sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he took off his night clothes and replaced them with the ones meant for him to travel in. He stood, and as soon as he attached the sheath holding his sword onto his left side he felt ready to face the world and anything it could throw at him.

He ran down multiple hallways as quickly as he could, not wanting to delay the party anymore. Once he got the the main courtyard next to the main castle gates, everyone had already congregated.

A small and humble carriage, wooden and worn with a simple cloth covering, stood in the middle. Everyone bustled around it, packing it with what they would need for their journey. Extra food, medical supplies, extra weapons. They didn't know how long they would be away, but they did not want to overload the horses pulling the cart. Caspian soon spotted Peter, Susan and Edmund mounted upon their horses, seemingly waiting for him. He noticed his horse, Destrier, tied to a post near a quiet corner. He hastily mounted his horse, and trotted over to wear the rest of the royals stood.

"Woken from your slumber, have you?" Edmund smirked as Caspian approached them.

Before Caspian could reply, Lucy came running down towards them wielding her bottle of cordial out in front of her. She hurried over to them, and handed the bottle to Susan. "You almost forgot this," she panted as Susan attached the miniature bottle to the belt.

"Open the drawbridge!" cried on of the knights, Marcus, as he finished attaching the second of the dark pair of horses to carriage, and jumped up onto the front of the carriage with the other knight, Hansel. As if by magic, the drawbridge was lowered and a complete path was made outside of the castle and into the unknown beyond.

Lucy clambered up onto an assortment of crates, and Reepicheep appeared out of no where next to her. "Good luck!" she shouted, almost bouncing on the tips of her toes as she waved. Reepicheep stood next to her at her feet, barely visible but brandishing his sword enthusiastically.

The carriage bumped along the rough path heading towards the woods, and the four royals rode behind it. "Where are we to travel to first?" Susan turned in her saddle, to face Peter.

"Well..." Peter said, as he pulled a map which unfolded to be almost as large as his torso from his saddle bag.


End file.
